Apparatus for cementing the wall of an earth boring



Oct. 16, 1945. l c. E. BANNISTERI 2,387,002

I APPARATUS FOR CEMENTING'THE-WALL OF AN EARTH-BORING vFiled June 24 1942 2 Shets-Sheei; 1

. IN V EN TOR.

. ATTORNEY.

d/yzimir/zv -BY I t 8 3 Z Oct. 16, 1945. c. E. BANNI STER 7 2,337,002

7 APPARATUS FOR CEMENTING. THE WALL OF AN: EARTH-BORING Filed June 24, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 VINVENTOR.

BY v fm/ ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 16, 1945 APPARATUS FOR CEMENTING THE WALL OF AN EARTH BORING Clyde E. Bannister, Houston, Tex.

Application June 24, 1942, Serial No. 448,194 3 Claims. (01. 166-1) This invention relates to apparatus for applying a coating of Portland cement or the like to the wall of an earth-boring, as in the case of an oil well drilled through a stratum of sand which requires to be walled off to prevent caving.

My chief objects are to provide economy of time, labor and materials.

Of the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is an elevation of parts of apparatus embodying and adapted for the practice of my invention in its preferred from, the earth formations and parts of the apparatus being shown in section.

Fig. 2 is a view of the same from below.

Fig. 3 is a middle, generally horizontal section, on line 3--3 of Fig. 4, of a deformable cementnozzle member of which six are shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an end view of the same.

Fig. 5 is a section on line 55 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is an elevation, with parts in section, of parts of the apparatus mounted at the top of the hole. i

I attain the above stated objects by virtually plastering the wall of the sandformation, l0,

with the self-setting cement, preferably after reaming out the previously drilled hole to a larger diameter in the part of it that passes through the sand and, preferably, for a little distance in the harder strata H, the sand.

Referring to the drawings, Figs. 1 and 5 show an elongated cement-containing barre1 l3 connected at its top to a pressure-applying hose [4 which extends to the top of the hole and may be employed, without additional means, for lowering and raising the barrel l3 in the hole.

The barrel comprises a lower, main body part B an upper cap part 13', and an annular coupling member l3 having right-and-left threads for securing the other two parts together after a suitable quantity of flowable cement l5 (Fig. 5) has been placed in the lower part, and after floating piston l6 has been placed within the barrel on top of the cement.

At its lower end the barrel is formed with at least one circumferential series of outlet apertures; the mouths of which preferably are at about 45 to the axis of the barrel, and each outlet aperture is in communication with a spewing and plastering nozzle I1, which preferably is formed of a resiliently deformable material such as vulcanized soft rubber. The nozzles are shown as being formed with external base flanges Il I! by which they are secured to the cement and l2 above and. below barrel by means of respective clamping rings l8, l8 and cap-screws l9, I9. v

Each of the spewing and plastering nozzles l1 preferably is of approximately cylindrical form near its base, with agraduation of cross-section such that at and near its outer end it consists of upper and lower lips 20, 2| which in their middle radial zones are separate, so that in that region they can be forced apart to provide a spewing aperture 22, and preferably the lower lip 2| projects a little beyond the upper lip 20 so that in an upward stroke the lower lip acts in the manner of a putty .knife for plastering the wall of the hole, while the relative shortness of the upper lip permits lateral flow of cement along the marginal ledges 23, 23 (Fig. 3) which are a part of the lower lip, and may permit also a little upward escape of cement to provide a working bank 24 of cement (Fig. 5).

Preferably the outer margins of the lips are curved to approximately the curvature of the hole to be plastered, and, when there is only one circumferential series of the nozzles, their flare preferably is such that the outer margins of the series of lips approximately fill out the circle.

Preferably the outer'margins of each pair of lips are a little higher at their sides than at their middle, as shown clearly in Fig. 4; for stilfness to provide plastering pressure and also to prevent excessive lateral escape and dropping of cement in case the lips do not completely fill out the circle.

At the top of the ground the hose l4 passes through a pull-out and let-off device 25 in being wound onto or drawn off from a vertical-axis hose reel 26, on which the hose has axis connection, through a swivel 21, with a conduit 28 leading from a pump 29 driven by a motor 30, and the conduit 28 is provided with an air-dome 3| provided' with a pet-cock 32 in its upper part and a pressure relief valve 32 connected to it below the normal water level.

In one method of operation the lower part of the barrel I3 is charged with cement at the top of the ground, the piston It being placed on top of the cement, and the two sections I 3 and l3 of the barrel are secured together by the coupling As the barrel is lowered through the smalldiameter part of the hole, in the hard formation II, the nozzles flex upwardly to permit the barrel to descend, but when the'large-diameter, reamed part of the hole is reached, in the sand stratum 5 "I, the nozzles spring back to the positions in which they are shown in Fig. 1.

When the nozzles have reached the lower end of the large-diameter part of the hole, fluid pressure is applied above the piston I6, through the manner of a trowel or a putty knife and apply a layer of cement to the wall.

The barrel can then be lowered, with the pressure off, for one or more repetitions of the operation, to assure a sufficiently thick and imperforate layer of the cement on the wall.

In an alternative procedure the barrel is first lowered to the lower end of the wall to be plastercd, with the barrel and the hose empty. A slug of cement is then pumped down the hose and when it has arrived in the barrel, as determined by timing it or by control of the amount of fluid pumped into the system, the barrel is raised in a plastering operation such as that just described.

I claim: i

1. Apparatus for cementing the wall of an earth boring, said apparatus comprising a cement chamber adapted to be freely lowered and raised in the boring and formed with cutlets leading from its lower portion, a plurality of flexible resilient extrusion means mounted on said chamber in constant communication with said outlets and projecting outwardly from the cham her, an imperforate piston directlycontacting the inner face of said chamber and movable downward therein for forcing cement downward ahead of it, and reelable means comprising a hose for lowerin and raising the chamber in the boring and conducting pressure fluid from the top of the boring into the space in the'chamber above the piston, each of the said flexible, resilient extrusion means comprising one of a circumferential series of nozzles formed of resiliently deformable material, each nozzle being formed with a, passage whose vertical cross-sectional dimension decreases and whose horizontal crosssectional dimension increases in the direction from the base of the nozzle toward its outer end.

2. Apparatus for cementing the wall of an earth boring, said apparatus comprising a cement chamber adapted to be freely lowered and raised in the boring and formed with outlets leading from its lower portion, a plurality of flexible resilient extrusion means mounted on said chamher in constant communication with said outlets and projecting outwardly from the chamber, an imperforate piston directly contacting the inner face of said chamber and movable downward therein for forcing cement downward ahead of it, and reelable means comprising a hose for .lowerin and raising the chamber in the boring and conducting pressure fluid from the top of the.

boring into the space in the chamber above the piston, each of the said flexible, resilient extrusion means comprising one of a circumferential series of nozzles formed of resiliently deformable material, each nozzle being formed with a passage whose vertical cross-sectional dimension de creases andwhose horizontal cross-sectional dimension increases in the direction from the base of the nozzle toward the outer end, and the most restricted part of the passage through the nozzle being of such .size at low pressure that there is substantially no flow of cement through the nozzle butthe nozzle being of such resilient deformability that at higher pressure the passage enlarges and thus permits relatively free flow of cement.

3. Apparatus for cementing the wall of an earth borin said apparatus comprising a cement chamber adapted to be freely lowered and raised in the boring and formed with outlets leading from its lower portion, a plurality of flexible resilient extrusion means mounted on said chamber in constant communication with said outlets and projecting outwardly from the chamber, an imperforate piston directly contacting the inner face of said chamber and movable downward therein for forcing cement downward ahead of it, and reelable means comprising a hose for lowering and raising the chamber in the boring and conducting pressure fluid from the top of the boring into the space in the chamber above the piston, each of the said flexible, resilient extrusion means being formed with an outlet vertically narrower than it is horizontally wide and having a relatively shorter upper lip and a relatively longer lower lip projectin outwardly beyond said u per lip and adapted to serve as trowelling means.

CLYDE E. BANNIS'IER. 

